image: Mohammad Allaf, M.D., director of the Brady Urological Institute, Lynda Carter and Ahmed Ghazi, M.D., M.S., director of minimally invasive and robotic surgery at the Robert Altman Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, are shown from left to right.
Credit: Johns Hopkins Medicine
The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute has a newly endowed division, called the Robert Altman Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, following a $10 million gift from the Robert and Lynda Altman Family Foundation.
The gift supports ongoing research, education and care to support the world-renowned center, which provides less-invasive surgical care to patients of all ages presenting with a range of urological conditions.
“Our goal is to continue to make surgeries more precise and help patients recover faster,” says Mohammad Allaf, M.D., director of the Brady Urological Institute. “This gift will help advance more than a century of innovation at Johns Hopkins Medicine that has helped patients live better and longer, while improving the practice of urological surgical care.”
This gift will accelerate ongoing advancements in education, surgical training and care at the Brady Urological Institute. It includes supporting the use of robotic surgery, 3D printers that create lifelike organs to help surgeons simulate procedures, and technology to provide surgeons with advanced imaging to gain multidimensional views and feedback about precise movements happening inside of the body, including during surgery.
“We have a legacy of not just being early adopters of, but pioneers of these technologies,” says Allaf. “The Carter Altman Family Foundation’s gift enables us to invest more in humans, to invest in infrastructure, to pivot in developing the latest minimally invasive treatments, and also to implement these treatments and share these developments with the world.”
“I’m excited to see how this emerges and the new students, including these wonder women surgeons,” says Carter, an actress, singer/songwriter and philanthropist. “They will push this technology into the future and do the right thing for people.”
Carter is well known for her role as the star of the television series Wonder Woman. She was married to the late Robert Altman, an esteemed attorney, pioneering business leader and devoted family man, for nearly 40 years. He is survived by Lynda and their children, Jessica and James.
The Robert and Lynda Carter Altman Family Foundation is committed to supporting innovations in healthcare, education and social justice. The gift follows Altman’s legacy of investing in growth and innovation, including technology, and a profound desire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.
The innovations at the Brady Urological Institute started more than 100 years ago. They have since redefined the role that research can have in education and care, and introduced new surgical and treatment approaches for a variety of conditions, including prostate and bladder cancer.
To learn more about the Robert Altman Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, visit hopkins.org/RAD.
About Johns Hopkins Medicine
Johns Hopkins Medicine is an $11 billion integrated global health enterprise and one of the leading academic healthcare systems in the United States. It unites the physicians and scientists of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the organizations, health professionals and facilities of the Johns Hopkins Health System. Diverse and inclusive, Johns Hopkins educates medical students, scientists, healthcare professionals and the public; conducts biomedical research; and provides patient-centered medicine to prevent, diagnose and treat human illness. Johns Hopkins Medicine has six academic and community hospitals in Maryland, the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region and Florida, including The Johns Hopkins Hospital, which opened in 1889. The organization operates four healthcare and surgery centers, more than six ambulatory surgery centers, and more than 50 primary and specialty care outpatient sites under Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. Johns Hopkins Medicine extends healthcare into the community through Johns Hopkins Care at Home and Johns Hopkins Health Plans, and around the world through Johns Hopkins Medicine International. For information about the enterprise and its research, education and clinical programs, and for the latest health, science and research news, visit hopkinsmedicine.org.